Tracy Brady Cartoons

While I’m not saying that they don’t exist, one of the first thing I noticed about webcomics was that it sure is harder to find a Latino or Black-made webcomic, much less one that is “popular”, than it is to find a white, Caucasian, “First World” made one.

I have a little theory about why that is and please feel free to dispute it in the comments section below. I think that webcomic creation and consumption are not as diverse as they should be because the economics of the real world has ’spilled over into’* the virtual structure that is online comics. (* ‘Dictated’ is probably a more appropriate term)

Simple observation shows that having access to electronic resources is a defining feature of who gets to participate in the process of making and consuming (reading) web content, including comics. Since electronic media is still pretty much a middle class, “First World” privilege (Oh yes it is!) groups of people who largely do not fall into that socio-economic class do not naturally become webcomic creators or readers, or aren’t able to maintain the tools needed to persist in webcomicking.

I once found a pretty badly drawn anime-style webcomic done by an 18 year-old, inner-city black kid on DrunkDuck. I read and watched it as the artist’s drawing and writing skills improved significantly with each post. Then one day, after making about 21 strips and acquiring at least 14 readers that weren’t just other teen anime-maker wanna-be’s, she (the artist) tearfully announced that she could no longer afford the internet facilities at her local library and would be discontinuing the comic. So it ended.

I’ve found that to be the case more times than I will mention here. Now, every time I find a black / Asian / Latino / Non-North American or European webcomic that seems like it is making a serious go at the medium, I pretty much go ga-ga and cross all my fingers and toes for them (for myself too).

I guess to some degree I’m looking for a some kind of camaraderie among these fellow black or “Third World” webcomic creators. Although being, black and from the “Third World” aren’t my only distinctions. Anyone who knows me knows that I also fall into a few other major minority groups. (Groups whose representation, or lack thereof, in the webcomic industry I’ll leave for discussion in another post.)

With that said, I’m sending out big “Hello’s” to Jay Potts of World of Hurt , Kerry Johnson of Harambee Hills , Frank Jordan of Company Man Comics and Jeremy Love of Bayou. (Thanks to David Gallaher of High Moon for that last link)

Also, I can’t say enough “Thank You’s” to sites like Comic Genesis, DrunkDuck, Smack Jeeves, Webcomics Nation, Webcomic Planet, Comic Fury and others that provide the free hosting services and GNU licenced image editing software like Gimp and InkScape that help low-income webcomic artists (black, white and otherwise alike) in such invaluable ways. Thank you all so very much.